#1 – CA&E 460 in Elgin on May 14, 1953. Nowadays, 460 can be found operating at the Illinois Railway Museum.
Following up on our two recent posts that featured nearly 100 color photos of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, we end July with 25 classic black-and-white views of that fabled interurban railroad.
We have also included a few related pictures, a couple from the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric, and a Metropolitan West Side “L” car on the CA&E Batavia branch.
A portion of the AE&FRE right-of-way is now occupied by the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin. Former AE&FRE car 304, sister to the 301 shown here, has found its way back to its original rails, and you can ride it at the museum. Meanwhile, the Illinois Railway Museum in Union has the largest collection of CA&E cars anywhere.
Historical color pictures are naturally more popular than black-and-white, but are naturally limited to the era when Kodachrome and other slide films were available. Personally, I find there is much to appreciate in these black-and-white photos, which often date to an older era that predates the availability of color. The original negatives were usually larger than 35mm, which means the picture has the potential of being a lot sharper than a slide.
We hope that you will enjoy this trip down memory lane. If these images inspire you to add your own insights or comments, do not hesitate to write to us, either using the “comments” function here, or to:
thetrolleydodger@gmail.com
Thanks.
-David Sadowski
PS- We thank Don Ross and Don’s Rail Photos for providing much of the information on the history of individual cars via his very comprehensive web site.
#2 – A three-car CA&E train heads west over Union Station, having just left Wells Street Terminal. (B. H. Nichols Photo)
#3 – CA&E freight motor 15 at Wheaton on February 1, 1954. (Arthur B. Johnson Photo)
#4 – Aurora, Elgin & Fox River #49 at Coleman on September 1, 1940, with the Illinois Central overhead. This was one of the earlier CERA fantrips. By then, the line was freight-only, although still operating under wire. (Roy Bruce Photo)
#5 – Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric 301 in 1929. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “301 was built by St Louis Car in 1924, (order) #1308. In 1936 it was sold to CI/SHRT as 301 and to Speedrail in May 1950. It was scrapped in 1952.”
#6 – CA&E snow plow 3 at Wheaton Shops. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “3 was built in the company shops in 1909 as a plow.”
#7 – CA&E 10. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “10 was built by Niles Car in 1902. It was rebuilt with a baggage compartment in 1910. It was later removed, but then reinstalled in April 1933 for funeral service. It was wrecked September 10, 1948, and scrapped.” (James B. M. Johnson Photo)
#8 – Metropolitan West Side Elevated car 800 and train at Glenwood Park on the CA&E Batavia branch on a charter. This car was built by Barney & Smith in 1901 and was renumbered to 2800 in 1913. This photo must predate that renumbering.
#9 -CA&E line car 11. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “11 was built by Brill in 1910, (order) #16483. It was rebuilt to a line car in 1947 and replaced 45. It was acquired by Railway Equipment Leasing & Invenstment Co in 1962 and came to Fox River Trolley Museum in 1984. It was lettered as Fox River & Eastern.
#10 – CA&E 603 at Wheaton on April 2, 1957. Don’s Rail Photos says, “In 1937, the CA&E needed additional equipment. Much was available, but most of the cars suffered from extended lack of maintenance. Finally, 5 coaches were found on the Washington Baltimore & Annapolis which were just the ticket. 35 thru 39, built by Washington Baltimore & Annapolis in 1913, were purchased and remodeled for service as 600 thru 604. The ends were narrowed for service on the El. They had been motors, but came out as control trailers. Other modifications included drawbars, control, etc. A new paint scheme was devised. Blue and grey with red trim and tan roof was adopted from several selections. They entered service between July and October in 1937. “
#11 – Although this is a double exposure, it does show an unnumbered wooden interurban, ex-Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee in Wheaton in 1946. It was part of the 129-144 series, the last passenger cars purchased by CA&E. Don’s Rail Photos says, “In 1936, the CA&E leased 11 surplus cars from the CNS&M. These cars were modified for service by raising the coupler height, installing electric heat instead of the coal-fired hot water heaters, modifying the control, and adding jumper receptacles and other minor fittings to allow them to train with the other CA&E cars. Since these were 50 mile per hour cars, and the CA&E cars wer 60 MPH cars, they were soon operated only in trains of their own kind rather than mixed in with other cars. In 1945 they were returned to the North Shore where they operated briefly. They were purchased in 1946 and last ran in regular service in September, 1953.”
#12 – CA&E 402 at Laramie in March 1946, with CRT 2893 at left. 402 was built by Pullman in 1923 as one of the first steel cars on the CA&E.
#13 – The Chicago & North Western station at Wheaton. CA&E paralleled C&NW in this area and its tracks are off to the left.
#14 – CA&E wood cars 310 and 309 at Batavia station on a May 19, 1957 fantrip. According to Don’s Rail Photos, 309 and 310 were built by Hicks Car Works in 1907 and modernized in October 1941. Car 309 was acquired by the Illinois Railway Museum in 1962.
#15 – Car 134 under a 90 foot stretch of trolley wire at State Road on the Batavia branch on August 31, 1941. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “134 was built by Jewett Car Co in 1907 as Chicago & Milwaukee Electric 134. It was rebuilt in 1914 retired in 1948.” When this picture was taken, this car was being leased by CA&E from the North Shore Line.
#16 – CA&E 453 at Des Plaines Avenue terminal in August 1955. Cars 451-460 were ordered in 1941 but delayed by war. They were built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1945-46 and are considered the last “standard” interurban cars built in the US, although this is a somewhat debatable point.
#17 – CA&E 312 (described as “part steel”) just west of Wheaton in August 1952 on the way to Aurora. This appears to be the same location (Childs Street) as Photo #88 in Part 2 of our recent CA&E Mystery Photos Contest. Randy Hicks: “the lead car is the 309; the train is eastbound.”
#18 – CA&E 318 in Warrenville on a July 4, 1956 fantrip. Don’s Rail Photos says, “318 was built by Jewett Car Co in 1914. It had steel sheating and was modernized in 1944. It was sold to Wisconsin Electric Raiway Historical Society in 1962. It was wrecked in transit and the parts were sold to IRM to restore 321.” Randy Hicks: “the second car on this fantrip was the 300. This car was not preserved, but its seats were acquired by North Freedom and are now at IRM.”
#19 – CA&E 422 at Wheaton in February 1952.
#20 – CA&E 406 at State Road on the Batavia branch in 1954.
#21 – CA&E 404 and 453 at Forest Park sometime between 1953 and 1957.
#22 – CA&E 460 at Lakewood in 1954.
#23 – CA&E 10. This car was wrecked on September 10, 1948 so this photo must predate that. Randy Hicks: “the 10 is at the end of the train; the next car is the 320. I doubt this was a fantrip, as I’ve never seen five (or more) cars used for this purpose.”
Today’s post is from guest contributor William Barber:
As a 14 year old, I had the pleasure of riding the CA&E with my late father in May, 1957 on a Illini Railroad Club fan trip. At that time, the CA&E terminated at the Forest Park loop where our fan trip started. We covered the entire railroad from there to Wheaton, Elgin, Batavia and Aurora. We started with car #459 and would have used it for the entire trip except for a mishap that occurred while we were traveling up the Mt. Carmel Branch along Mannheim. One of the third rail shoes struck a pile of gravel in the stone quarry and was damaged. We were able to operate to Wheaton with one shoe, but the Railroad decided that we should change cars there. This was a fine turn of events and significantly improved the trip for most of the passengers. The replacement car was no. 20. My dad took a number of slide photos during that trip. Unfortunately, I have only scanned one so far. I believe it was taken at Prince Crossing on the Elgin branch.
Hopefully, someone else will respond who was on the same trip. I would like to hear from them. I am guessing that there were probably 40 people on that trip.
Car 20 is preserved today at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin, Illinois, and is still in operable condition, even though it is now 113 years old.
#49 – JN: Westbound near Hannah Ave. east of the B&OCT crossing. EM: CAE 20 (Niles, 1902) which is the oldest CAE car still in existence (preserved at the FRTM), leads a consist on the west side of Laramie Av. The following car is CAE 304 (Niles, 1906). (Here we have a real difference of opinion. However, it’s difficult to determine who is correct, since both areas were obliterated by expressway construction. Laramie seems more likely due to the presence of large apartment buildings.)
We are grateful for all your excellent submissions. I always find it remarkable just how much detail our eagle-eyed readers can find in some of these vintage images. Thanks to everyone who took the time to send in an entry or post a comment.
While there were only two complete entries, by John Nicholson and Edward Maurath, they were both excellent and comprehensive. And while there are a few photos where they have a real difference of opinion, what’s surprising to me is how much they were able to agree upon, given the obvious difficulty of identifying some of these locations 60 years on.
Based on the criteria of best overall submission, John Nicholson is the winner of Part 2. Congratulations!
He will receive a copy of our Railroad Record Club #35 and 36 compact disc, which includes vintage audio from both the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin and the CTA Garfield Park “L”. You will find this and much more in our Online Store.
Mr. Maurath was the winner of Part 1, and you can find those answers here.
Both of their submissions are in the captions, with a few minor edits. To simplify matters a bit, we will refer to them by their initials (JN and EM). We have also added a few additional comments.
I feel confidant that the great majority of answers are correct, but inevitably some of them are going to be educated guesses and if additional information comes up that can clarify matters, we will update the captions accordingly.
Thanks.
-The Editor
PS- Since there are several photos here showing the Batavia branch, it’s worth pointing out that this was once considered as a location for the Illinois Electric Railway Museum, as it was then called. You can read about that on the excellent Hicks Car Works blog.
Don Ross, who runs the Don’s Rail Photos website, was very much involved in IERM’s search for a new home.
Here is an article about the museum’s early days from the December 27, 1957 Chicago Tribune:
Railway Fans Ride Hobby in Old Electric Trains
Just as model electric trains occupy the time of many families at Christmas time, old electric trains take up many hours of the members of the Illinois Electric Railway museum.
The museum’s latest endeavor is one dear to the hearts of many Chicago commuters– it is to save for posterity one of Chicago’s open platform elevated cars.
Want $750 for Them
The last of the open platform cars was decommissioned recently by the Chicago transit authority. The CTA is asking $750 each for them. The museum has raised more than $460 toward buying one.
The museum was founded in 1953. It is temporarily located in the south yard of the Chicago Hardware Foundry company in North Chicago. About a dozen pieces of equipment have been collected so far.
Every Saturday museum members are on the job rehabilitating the equipment in which they have approximately $10,000 invested. Next year, the museum hopes to obtain a railway line on which to operate its cars. Among the equipment is a 60 ton air conditioned interurban car of 1913 vintage which used to run between St. Louis, Mo., and Peoria. There is a small, four wheel street car built in 1921 and a pump type hand car with both a flat and a hopper trailer.
Other Things Collected
Other pieces include a 35 ton center door interurban car built about 1917 which ran between St. Louis and Alton, an aluminum interurban car built in 1931, and two cars from the old Milwaukee Electric line.
The museum also has an old Chicago red street car it keeps in the CTA car barn at 79th st. and Vincennes av. Rail fans use it occasionally for excursions.
Approximately 50 regular members take part in museum activities, said R. Don Ross of West Allis, Wis., its publicity director. Some are railroad men, some craftsmen, and some are interested in the history of rail equipment.
#50 – JN: Westbound between Racine Ave. and Aberdeen St. Pilings for future ramp to ground level operations appear in background. EM: CAE 205 (Niles, 1904) is westbound between Racine and Halsted on tracks that will soon be torn down for construction of the Congress Expressway. I believe the wooden posts show the beginning of construction of the ramp at the east end of the infamous “stop light express” where the Garfield PK trains (and no others) will run in a fenced off portion of Van Buren street for the next five years or so, causing what was a dream of a ride to become a nightmare. This is the same location as #41 in part one, only slightly earlier.
#52 – JN: Bridge over the PRR/C&NW on Garfield “L”. EM: CAE 452 (St. Louis, 1945). (This is the same location as photo #3 in Part 1 of this series, from a different angle.)
#53 – JN: Throat of Wells St. terminal—portion over Franklin St. EM: CAE 423 (Cincinnati, 1927) is crossing Franklin St on its way to Wells St. station. Looking north.
#54 – JN: Sacramento curve on the Garfield “L” EM: CAE 460 (St. Louis, 1945) leads an outbound train followed by 423, 422, and 418, all 1927 Cincinnati cars. Looking NE. At left can be seen construction of the east end ramp for the infamous “stop light express” to get CTA Garfield Pk traffic out of the way of the construction of the Congress Expressway (now know as the Eisenhower Expressway). Soon the CAE will terminate at Des Plaines Av, Forest Pk, confining it to ground level traffic only.
#55 – JN: CA&E trains passing at Western Ave. on Garfield “L” EM: CAE 408 (Pullman, 1923) approaches Western Av station. Looking East.
#56 – JN: Westbound train at Kilbourn Ave. curve. EM: CAE 457 (St. Louis, 1945) leads a three-car consist somewhere between Laramie and Marshfield.
#57 – JN: Batavia terminal EM: CAE 431 (Cincinnati, 1927) sits at the Batavia Terminal.
#58 – JN: Westbound train leaving Batavia Jct. EM: At Batavia Jct, formerly know as Eola Jct, a red and grey car heads for Aurora while the blue car at the station is ready to depart for Batavia. Looking SE.
#59 – JN: Crossing under CB&Q on Batavia branch. EM: CAE 460 (St. Louis, 1945) on the Batavia branch somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
#60 – JN: Eastbound under short stretch of trolley wire on Batavia branch. EM: A single car travels along the Fox River in the snow.
#61 – JN: Glenwood Park on Batavia branch (by old powerhouse). EM: CAE 406, probably on a fan trip, stops at Glenwood Park. Notice the nice new red paint job, meaning this picture is later than the picture in part 1 of 406 still painted blue.
#62 – JN: Batavia bound car having departed from Batavia Jct. (in distance). EM: CAE 141, a car obtained second hand from the North Shore Line travels through the middle of nowhere, I would guess on the Batavia branch. Bob Campbell says, “141 is on the Aurora branch; not Batavia branch. West of Batavia Jct. was tangent on the Aurora branch. Batavia line just west of BJ was on a curve (see photo #66).” Bill Shapotkin writes, “While not disputing that this photo is taken on the Batavia Branch, the remark: “car having departed from Batavia Jct. (in distance)” I believe is incorrect. The reason I say that is that upon departing Batavia Jct (enroute to Batavia), the line IMMEDIATELY goes through a long sweeping curve to the N/W (as can be see in Photo 58). While I do not know exactly where this photo was taken, be assured that the distant station in photo is NOT Batavia Jct. By the way, this is NOT “pull-in” trip of the Batavia car (enroute to Wheaton after the PM rush). If it were, the platform of Batavia Jct would be to the right (not to the left). I believe the photo is at either one of two locations: 1. A point JUST north of Bilter Rd (as the State Rd station would be on west side of R-O-W), or 2. A point JUST N/W of the sweeping curve out of Batavia Jct — approx where East-West Tollway intersects the line today (thus station in distance is Bilter Rd (which, like State Rd was located on west side of R-O-W). In either case, believe this is a morning photo (of an E/B car) and that we are facing geographically N/W.”
#63 – JN: Batavia terminal EM: This is a companion picture to picture 57. Same CAE 431 (Cincinnati 1927, now preserved at the IRM) and same automobile. The bridge over the Fox River is clearly visible.
#64 – JN: Glenwood Park stop on Batavia branch EM: CAE 406 (Pullman, 1923), again painted red and grey, at Glenwood Park flag stop on its way to Batavia.
#65 – JN: Crossing under CB&Q on Batavia branch EM: CAE 428 (Cincinnati, 1927) on the Batavia branch. Notice how the grass is grown up in the track bed. This must be near the end when Batavia service was minimal and sometimes served by bus.
#66 – JN: Westbound car is just departing Batavia Jct. EM: CAE 141, an ex-North Shore Line car most likely in Kane county on the Batavia branch.
#67 – JN: 427 eastbound at Gary Siding on Aurora branch EM: CAE 427 (Cincinnati, 1927) pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Probably on the Batavia branch. (Here we have a difference of opinion.) Bob Campbell writes, “Photographer on the north side of Butterfield Road overpass. Not all of 427 was scrapped – I have one of the end numbers (on the right, retriever side) in my “Oklahoma Basement” (out building).”
#68 – JN: 2001-2002 working CB&Q interchange at Aurora EM: CAE 2001 and CAE 2002 (General Electric, 1920 and 1922) in the north yard at Wheaton. (Again, here we have a difference of opinion.) Bob Campbell writes, “Definitely the CB&Q interchange at Aurora; Aurora Avenue/Route 25 in foreground.” Chuck Amstein adds, “I think JN is correct here. This is looking WNW from the side of Route 25, just south of the CB&Q-CA&E (double-tracked, trolley wires visible in background) crossing. The positions of the electrical tower (still there), smokestack, and water tower, plus several visible buildings in the background, match those on current or historical aerial images. Probably photographed along with #70.”
#69 – JN: Car under very short stretch of wire at State Rd. This was to help a car over the gap after it stopped at station westbound. EM: CAE 406 (Pullman, 1923) painted red and grey, at the State Road flag stop.
#70 – JN: Eastbound crossing Aurora Ave. near CB&Q interchange at Aurora EM: CAE 2001 and 2002 (General Electric, 1920 and 1922) pulling freight.
#71 – JN: Eastbound Aurora branch car at Batavia Jct. Note one of the clearance boards on platform has been flipped over. EM: CAE 453 (St. Louis, 1945) at Batavia Jct, formerly known as Eola Jct. That was tough!
#72 – JN: Westbound at bridge over Winfield Creek on Elgin branch (near Lincoln Ave.) EM: CAE 454 (St. Louis, 1945) in the middle of nowhere.
#73 – JN: Eastbound train at Warrenville. Station later served as Warrenville city hall. EM: CAE 458 (St. Louis, 1945) at Warrenville.
#74 – JN: Aurora terminal EM: CAE 414 (Pullman, 1923) and two Cincinnati cars along the Fox River at the Aurora station. Observe the raised trolley poles.
#75 – JN: On Cook County branch along Mannheim Rd. EM: CAE 310 (Hicks, 1907) on the west side of Mannheim Road by a stone quarry. Most likely the same fan trip as several pictures in part one of this contest. Passenger cars did not normally use this track after 1926. Notice the raised trolley pole. the Cook county branch, a.k.a. the Mount Carmel branch had no third rails.
#76 – JN: Westbound at State Rd on Batavia branch under short section of wire to clear the gap in third rail while crossing the road. EM: CAE 406 (Pullman, 1923) again painted red at the State Road flag stop.
#77 – JN: Westbound train crossing B&OCT east of Desplaines Ave. station. EM: CAE 428 (Cincinnati, 1927) crosses the B&OCTRR just east of Des Plaines Av. The branch going west along side the CAE tracks in the distance were for the Chicago and Great Western. Notice the old style crossing gate at left in the foreground. View is looking mostly west and slightly NW.
#78 – JN: Westbound car has just departed from Desplaines Ave. terminal. This section of track was moved north and rebuilt due to expressway construction. CA&E trains never operated on rebuilt track. EM: CAE 419 (Pullman, 1923) heads west towards 1st Av. Maywood having come from Des Plaines station. Looking NW.
#79 – JN: Eastbound train has left Desplaines Ave. station and crossing B&OCT EM: CAE 428 (Pullman, 1923) at the same B&OCTRR crossing as in picture #77, but this time it is headed east. View is looking west.
#80 – JN: Westbound nearing 1st Ave, in Maywood. Note Montana Charlie’s gas station in background. EM: CAE 454 (St. Louis, 1945) has just crossed 1st Av, Maywood heading east. View is looking NW. Dan Hagstrom adds, “#80 is on the main line approaching First Avenue from the east, from behind Commonwealth Edison. Again, the Refiner’s Pride gas station is visible. I was 10 1/2 years old when the Aurora stopped passenger services, so I have some pretty good memories of where the Aurora passed through Maywood. I lived about 4 blocks south on 4th Avenue.”
#81 – JN: Westbound Wheaton local at Pulaski Rd. on Garfield “L” EM: CAE 428 (Cincinnati, 1927) is at the Pulaski Road station on its way to Chicago. View is looking NE.
#82 – JN: Westbound near Racine Ave. (same location as photo #50). Note ramp to surface trackage now in place. EM: CAE 52 (Stephenson, 1903) is leading a three-car consist westward at the same location between Racine and Halsted as in picture #50. The track in the foreground is about to be torn down because of Congress Expressway construction. Notice the other trains in the picture. Soon only the Garfield Pk trains will be using the tracks in the distance.
#83 – JN: Westbound train at Austin Ave. near B&OCT interchange. EM: CAE train of two St. Louis cars with CAE 451 (still in existence at IRM) at the rear approaching Hannah station. View is looking NW. Hannah station was somewhat unusual for the CAE in that both platforms were on the same side of the cross street. (Editor’s note: I believe this is Austin and not Hannah. Hannah was a “B” station near the end, while this station, and Austin, were “A.” And while the cityscape has changed a lot due to expressway construction, there would be single family homes near Hannah and not the large apartment buildings we see here. The Austin station did have both platforms on the same side of the street.)
#84 – JN: Aurora terminal EM: CAE 460 (St. Louis, 1945) is at the end of a four-car consist sitting at the Elgin Terminal by the Fox River. View is looking SW. V. Hallas writes, “Picture # 84 is definitely Aurora. I Googled American Well Works, they started there in 1869. I also say this as the train is facing north on the east side of the river. if this was Elgin, it would be facing south.” Bob Campbell adds, “Definitely Aurora terminal.”
#85 – JN: Wells St. terminal facing east EM: In the caverns between the tall buildings of downtown Chicago looking east at the Wells Street Terminal. At the time this picture was taken, and for quite a few years earlier, this terminal was used only by the CAE. CTA trains turned south after crossing the river to Van Buren street to enter the loop at this time.
#86 – JN: View west of 11th Ave. in Maywood EM: Station at 11th Av. in Maywood. The red railings show that this is a late picture, since they were painted green when the CTA trains of the Westchester branch stopped here for the last time December 8, 1951. Notice the newer automobiles crossing 11th Av. Dan Cluley adds, “the cream colored convertible is a 1957 Olds. So given the bare trees this must have been taken in the Winter or early Spring of ’57.”
#87 – JN: Freight at Wheaton yard by new dispatcher’s tower EM: East end of the Wheaton yard. Notice the “new” dispatch tower.
#88 – JN: Westbound train on Aurora branch at Childs St., Wheaton EM: Now this is truly a “mystery” photo! The street crossing looks like something out of the 1920’s, but the Pullman car is painted in the last livery! Someone else will have to explain this one! Bob Campbell writes, “Agree Childs Street, Wheaton looking east.”
#89 – JN: Eastbound train at Bellwood. EM: CAE 433 (Cincinnati, 1927) is headed for Chicago having passed under the Indiana Harbor Belt RR. View is looking NW. Bill Shapotkin adds, “While the captions “Eastbound train at Bellwood” and that: ” CAE 433 (Cincinnati, 1927) is headed for Chicago having passed under the Indiana Harbor Belt RR. View is looking NW.” are both correct — the location should be specified as being at 25th Ave (which IS in Bellwood), which is the first grade xing east of the IHB/B&OCT overcrossing.”
#90 – JN: Eastbound train departing Glenwood Park and heading towards CB&Q underpass. EM: CAE 460 (St. Louis, 1945) travels along the Fox River near Batavia, headed for Chicago. Notice that it is running with third rail power.
#91 – JN: Eastbound train departing Batavia terminal at Wilson St. EM: CAE 460 (St. Louis, 1945) still is running under wire along the Fox River. It has just left the Batavia station, headed for Chicago. View is looking NW.
#92 – JN: Eastbound car crossing under CB&Q on Batavia branch. Old powerhouse can be seen on right through trees. EM: CAE 460 (St Louis, 1945) is on track curving away from the Fox River on the Batavia branch.
#93 – JN: Westbound on Batavia branch under short section of overhead wire. EM: CAE 457 (St. Louis, 1945) is traveling under wire along the Fox River.
#94 – JN: Train on outbound platform at Desplaines Ave. Note “baldy” heading to Chicago in background. EM: CAE 401 (Pullman, 1923) leads a two car consist at the new (1953–1957) station on the west side of Des Plaines Av. At this time the CAE trains turned around without crossing Des Plaines Av. The CTA trains discharged all passengers at this station. Those who want to go further west boarded a CAE train here and paid another fare. The green and cream train in the background has just come from their station (color-coded green) on the other side of the loop where the CAE trains discharged all their passengers. Those wishing to continue east had to pay another fare to the CTA. the loops did not cross at grade, there was a wooden structure to carry the CTA trains above the tracks of the CAE. All the tracks east of Des Plaines Av, formerly owned by the CAE as far as Laramie Av, were sold to the CTA.
#1 – WS: Met ‘L’. View looks east from Halsted Station. FH: note the pre-rebuild Cincinnati. EM: South end of Halsted curves. CAE train is outbound, Looking NE, late morning.
We are grateful for all your excellent submissions. I always find it remarkable just how much detail our eagle-eyed readers can find in some of these vintage images. Thanks to everyone who took the time to send in an entry.
There were several great entires, and in particular, I would like to single out Andre Kristopans, Frank Hicks, and William Shapotkin, who all made significant contributions. Sorting out these answers was quite a job– I had to make a spreadsheet to keep it all straightened out.
Based on the criteria of best overall submission, Edward Maurath is the winner of Part 1. Congratulations on a difficult job well done!
He will receive a copy of our Railroad Record Club #35 and 36 compact disc, which includes vintage audio from both the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin and the CTA Garfield Park “L”. You will find this and much more in our Online Store.
We have combined some of the best answers about the “Roarin’ Elgin” in each photo caption. To simplify matters a bit, we will refer to the four main entrants by their initials (AK, FH, WS, and EM).
I feel confidant that the great majority of answers are correct, but inevitably some of them are going to be educated guesses and if additional information comes up that can clarify matters, we will update the captions accordingly. As Ronald Reagan once said, “Trust, but verify.” As we all know, the majority opinion is not always the right one.
PS- We apologize for inadvertently posting the same image twice (#40 and 47).
#2 – Same location as #1. In fact, this picture was probably taken seconds later.
#3 – WS: W/B train x/o the C&NW/PRR at Rockwell St. Photo taken just before ‘L’ was closed (notice the surrounding buildings are gone). View looks N/E. EM: CAE 458, 458 and 454 (St. Louis, 1945)
#4 – WS: W/B train (PM rush?) at Glen Oak station. View looks east off Hill Ave bridge. What is even more interesting is that in distance (at right) is the Shapotkin house (where I grew up.) FH: a great shot of a six-car train of “shorties” westbound at Glen Oak. The lead car is either the 36 or the 46 (the number is badly worn but I think it’s the 46) as those were the only two motor cars with the smaller “flap” style ventilators. The train includes five motors and a trailer and the trailer, right behind the lead car, also has that style ventilators while the rest of the cars – like the rest of the wood fleet – have normal boxy Utility ventilators. The train is an interesting mix; the last car is in red, the rest in blue, and the second-to-last car hasn’t had its roof tarred yet while the rest have. Gary Kleinedler adds, “Photos 4 and 18 are at the east side of Glen Ellyn, taken from the Hill Avenue bridge looking east toward Lombard. Both trains are westbound at Glen Oak Country Club stop (the golf course is to the right and behind the shelter). The CA&E bridge over the East Branch of the DuPage River and the concrete bridge over two-lane Illinois Route 53 (Columbine Avenue) are in the distance. The trailing switch just behind the communication(?) box to the left rear of the train leads to a short Public Service of Northern Illinois stub siding. I lived less than a mile from this location (my grandparents lived even closer). Although the CA&E station was on the south end of Lombard (we lived on the north side), I still occasionally used the interurban to travel home from Glenbard High School in Glen Ellyn (1951-1955) when I missed the last school bus.”
#5 – EM: CAE 459 (St. Louis, 1945) at Racine Station. CRT cars, including 2880, also visible. BS: E/B train of St Louis cars passing the Met shop at Racine Ave. View looks west. AK: Throop shop – note that while shop had quite a bit of inside capacity, there was almost no outside storage.
#6 – EM: CAE 460 (St. Louis, 1945) at north Sacrimento curve with three Cincinnati cars including 422 and 428, outbound. Looking NE. AK: coming into Sacramento WB. Stationhouse burned out a few weeks before Van Buren surface diversion started and was closed early. FH: Sacramento curve, note that the second car is a rebuilt Cincinnati and the third is an un-rebuilt one.
#7 – FH: (and #29, #42) – Neat series of shots, taken at Lockwood Yard. The lead car, Stephenson 48, is one of a small number of “shorties” that kept its arched trim until the end. Note that it also has the blocked-off clerestory, a Wheaton modification that was made to a number of cars during the 1920s. For whatever reason this particular modification fell out of favor (like the arched trim). Behind it is Kuhlman 314 in fresh red paint, Niles 303 (today preserved in Connecticut), and two more Kuhlmans. Bringing up the rear is another Niles, either 201, 300 or 307 judging from the blocked-off clerestory. These photos also make an interesting study in storm windows. The “shorties” and the 300-series Niles cars were built withe removable storm windows, and the 48, 303 and rear car all have theirs fitted. The Kuhlmans (and Hicks cars) were built with permanent storm windows fitted inboard of the regular sash, and the 314 has its lowered. The fourth car in the strong appears to have its storm windows raised for some reason (you can see a light grey band under the drip rail) while the Kuhlman painted red has had its permanent storm sash removed in favor of removable sash (several of the Jewetts, which were built with permanent storm sash fitted outboard of the regular sash, and Kuhlmans had this modification made in the early 1950s). EM: Notice old wooden CTA cars at far right.
#8 – WS: At left is the Commonwealth Ave yard east of first Ave, Maywood. Train at left is E/B, train at right is W/B. View looks west. EM: CAE 428 (Cincinnati, 1927) and 452 (St. Louis, 1945) with another St. Louis car behind it in winter. AK: Between river and First Av – Northern Illinois Public Service property on left, now site of Maybrook Court.
#9 – EM: CAE 410 (Pullman, 1923) leading another Pullman at westbound platform of 5th Av, Maywood, looking east in early afternoon. I lived less than 2 block south of this station from 1947–1954, and saw severe deterioration of service during that time. I would guess this photo to be somewhat older that the others based on the fact that the railings are painted green (just barely) rather than red, and the old crossing gates that were replaced in the late 40’s. Dan Hagstrom writes, “#9 is looking east at the 5th Avenue Station in Maywood, my home town. The picture was taken after 1952 because I can see the newer crossing gates at 4th Avenue in the distance.”
#10 – WS: Storage Yard at Wheaton Shops (shop building is at left). Photographer is looking W-S/W off Elgin Branch (which is visible at right).
#11 – WS: Four of the ex-CNS&M woodies — sitting forlornly in the “Orchard,” storage track at west end of Wheaton Yard. View looks west. FH: Interesting shot, I would assume from the winter of 1953-1954. If memory serves the ex-North Shore cars were retired following the cut back to Forest Park, and judging by the ties across the tracks this photo was taken post-retirement (despite the cars being mostly complete right down to flags in the flag brackets!). What I’m wondering is, what in the world is that thing in the coupler? Charles Sontag adds, “Photo 11 of the North Shore wood repainted in CA&E colors is very useful for me. I have a 0-scale Labelle Interurban kit that I will be building to represent one and it’s nice to know how they are painted.”
#12 – FH: Nice shot at Wheaton, I’m guessing taken during the 310 fantrip. The 315 must have been one of the last 300-series wood cars in blue. Note the rebuilt Pullman in the shop at right.
#13 – WS: Wow! Rare shot of four of the freight locos (the 2000s and 3000s), all in the same paint job. Believe this is on the freight lead (located south of freight yard and west of the two main tracks of Aurora Branch) in front of Wheaton Shop. View looking S/E. EM: North yard of the Wheaton Shops, with 3004, 3003, 2001, and 2002 lined up. AK: Two closest are the ex Oklahoma Ry motors. EM: The two closest locomotives were built by Baldwin-Westinghouse. The two more distant ones were built by GE. The ex-Oklahoma Ry locomotives were numbered 4005 and 4006 and are not in the picture. Bob Campbell: “Regarding photo #13, in CERA Bulletin #105, page IV-9, the Wheaton map indicates that the four freight motors are sitting on the “passing siding” (not the yard lead in the background, at a lower grade level) which is oriented in a NE – SW direction, so the photographer is facing S-S-W, not S-E. In photo #16, the same equipment in the same location as photo #13, the photographer has changed positions and is now facing East, instead of N-E.”
#14 – EM: Two wooden cars that had been parlor cars 600 and 601, rebuilt as coaches with metal added and reconfigured to mate with steel rather that wooden cars, in the north yard of the Wheaton shops at a time when they were seeing little use. WS: These are the two one-time parlor cars — which were built as woods and converted to operate with the steels. Photo taken at Wheaton Yard. Believe view looks N/W. FH: Nice views of the 435-436 prior to scrapping. In the lower photo, I wonder what was cut up ahead of them; I can see a traction motor armature in the pile of metal to the left.
#15 – WS: Same two cars as above. View looks N/E at/near west end of yard trackage at Wheaton.
#16 -WS: Same as photo #13 — but looking N/E. Great pic!!
#17 – EM: East yard of Wheaton Shops again, with the tracks to Aurora visible at the extreme left.
#18 – WS: Fantrip (Maury Kleibolt trip) photo at Glen Oak. View looks E-S/E off Hill Ave. EM: CAE 310 (Hicks, 1907) stopped at Glen Oak. This must be a fan trip, as there would not normally be that many patrons waiting there!
#19 – EM: East end of the old Des Plaines station which was replaced by a fancy interchange on the other (west) side of Desplaines in September of 1953. The shadows, including that of the photographer, indicate this picture was taken in late afternoon, with a four-car steel train with CAE 430 (Cincinnati, 1927) on the end about to cross the tracks of another railroad (B&OCTRR) on its way to downtown Chicago. After the crossing, the two different railroads run parallel almost to Laramie Av. AK: Looking east at Desplaines Av station, B&OCT grade crossing in background, source of many, many delays. (Truman Hefner Photo)
#20 – EM: CAE 458 (St. Louis, 1945) approaching Laramie Av station from the incline leading up to Cicero station, and just visible in the distance, Kilbourn. The view, looking east, includes a vast fleet of wooden CTA cars, with a wooden CTA train about to ascend the incline. The tracks east from here were owned by the CTA. The tracks west of here were owned by the Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin. The tracks west of here to Desplaines Av. were later sold by the CAE to the CTA once CAE trains stopped going east of Desplaines in September of 1953. Notice the monitor style roofs which were distinctive to the Metropolitan line CTA cars. WS: View looks east off footbridge.
#21 – WS: Lockwood Ave yard. Believe view looks N/W across the mainline. FH: Interesting view of the storage tracks west of Lockwood with a couple of trains of “shorties” in what I presume is midday storage. Judging from the number of “shorties” in red I’m guessing this is pretty close to the end of service over the “L.”
#22 – EM: Gunderson Av. station with westbound CAE train approaching the station looking NW. CAE 428 (Cincinnati, 1927) is at the rear of the two-car train. AK: Gunderson Av passing track, this is towards the end as the middle track is rusted black.
#23 – AK: EB train crossing Desplaines Av, note L staging track to left of main where L trains waited for leaving time. EM: CAE 459 (St. Louis, 1945) leads this three-car train heading for Chicago. View is looking Northwest.
#24 – WS: Locos #3003-3004 lead an E/B frt out of Wheaton. In backgound is the “new” Dispatcher’s Office. View looks west. (Another great pic — never seen this one before.)
#25 – EM: CAE 459 (St. Louis, 1945), followed by CAE 452 and other(s), somewhere between Laramie Av and Hannah, looking NW. AK: EB somewhere between Harlem and Austin, B&OCT in foreground.
#26 – FH: What a classic shot! I’m guessing this is the “cannonball set” (so nicknamed by the fans, not the railroad) that was often trained together in later years. This consisted of the three up-rated Jewetts, 319-321, with trailers 105 and 205 interspersed. In this view it appears to be 319-105-320-205-321 (the 321 had lost its oval window by this time so the middle Jewett is most likely the 320). Only the 105 and 320 are in red. The 319 was painted in this version of the “Early American” livery in May 1950. Taken at Racine. AK: WB train at Racine. This station had 4 platforms, two on each side of Throop shop leads
#27 – WS: An E/B train of steel cars pass the old Met powerhouse. Surrounding buildings have all been demolished in advance of expressway construction. View looks N/W. AK: Throop shop in its last days. Note how bricks are “leaching”.
#28 – EM: One of the ex-North Shore Line wooden cars leads a westbound train over Union Station headed for Canal Street station. The train came from the Wells Street station through the tall buildings. The tracks curving off to the right lead to the CTA station at Franklin and Van Buren. All these tracks saw heavy traffic until September of 1953.
#29 – EM: CAE 314 (Kuhlman, 1909) almost certainly at the north Wheaton yard, but there is nothing in the picture to confirm that.
#30 – EM: CAE 310 (Hicks, 1907) would appear to be on a fan trip about to go through the underpass between the Mannheim Road section and the Roosevelt Road section of the Mt. Carmel branch (aka the Cook County branch) which was used for freight operations only after 1926. Notice the trolley pole is up. This branch was unique in that it had no third rails anywhere from Mt. Carmel cemetery to where it joined the main line. view is looking NE. AK: Cook County Branch south of IC underpass north of Roosevelt with a charter. WS: Fantrip on Mt Carmel Branch. IC Iowa Division is overhead. Bill Shapotkin writes, “The date of the photos (and there were several) of car #310 on a fantrip on the Mt Carmel Branch was (per caption on Pg 75 of SUNSET LINES (Vol1)) August 8, 1954.”
#31 – EM: CAE 418 (Pullman, 1923) is ready to lead CAE 406 out of the Elgin Terminal along the Fox River. Notice 406 has recently been painted in the final CAE livery. That means this picture is newer than other pictures in this series that show 406 still painted blue like the 418 here. WS: Aurora terminal (the one opened 1939 along Fox River). View looks E-N/E.
#32 – WS: Nice going-away shot of a freight (locos #2001-2002). Location unknown. Jerry P. Hund says, “I belelieve #32 was taken in Bellwood, just east of Bellwood Ave. We can also see some freight cars on the IHB track that came down the trestle from the mainline. All tracks would run parallel to the CGW mainline. This view is looking northeast.”
#33 – Here we have a real difference of opinion: WS: Locos #3003-3004 switching in Aurora (just east of CB&Q xing). View looks N/E. AK: Freight train on Cook County Branch around Harrison St. Bill Shapotkin writes, “This picture appears on Page 157 of SUNSET LINES (Vol 1), by Larry Plachno. The caption reads (in part): “Here, locomotives 4006-4005 are switching the CB&Q interchange on the north side of Aurora,” which, per the map on Pg 92 of said book, puts the location as being at Aurora Ave.”
#34 – EM: CAE 310 (Hicks, 1907) southbound at the stone quary on the west side of Mannheim Road, probably the same fan trip as in picture #30. View is looking NW. AK: On Cook County Branch around Jackson or so, next to Mannheim Rd.
#35 – EM: Same as #34 but from a slightly different angle.
#36 – EM: CAE 310 (Hicks, 1907) southwest bound having just passed through the underpass in picture #30 This picture would appear to have taken earlier the same day. The underpass is still there today, but it has been filled in some over the years. AK: Cook County Branch south of IC underpass north of Roosevelt with a charter.
#37 – FH: The 318 and two other Jewetts, likely the 316 and 317, westbound at Kedzie with a Pullman rounding Sacramento curve in the background. AK: Kedzie station, CAE stop because of Sears headquarters at Arthington and Kedzie. CTA ran extra buses for Sears until Sears moved downtown.
#38 – FH: Great photo of the 302 leading what appears to be a solid rake of 200/300-series Niles cars (there may be a Hicks in there somewhere, tough to tell from the sides) into the sun. The motorman has his shade pulled down pretty far! EM: CAE 302 (Niles, 1906) leads a four-car train through the wilderness destined to become the Congress Expressway. Van Buren Street, future site of the infamous “stop light express,” can be seen. AK: approaching CNW/PRR at Rockwell WB. Photo from PRR tracks note brick structure bases, then last few are steel. Structure was raised when PRR/CNW was elevated. Richard Neva adds, “Number 38 appears to show Our Lady of Sorrows Church with 2 spires in the background which I was very familiar with during my early growing years.”
#39 – WS: W/B train (is that the CANNONBALL) at Kedzie station (same location as #37). View looks east. EM: CAE 414 (Pullman, 1923) leads a westbound train at Kedzie station. It would appear to be evening rush hour. Looking east.
#40 – FH: Nice shot of a five-car rush-hour train of “shorties” at Kedzie, express to Wheaton if the sign is to be believed. The 34 is still in tattered blue and retains its light grey roof, or what’s left of the paint anyway; a lot of cars had their roofs tarred in the late 1940s/early 1950s. It looks like the motorman has drawn the curtain over the “railfan window” in the bulkhead so that the commuters don’t all have the sun in their faces. And it’s tough to tell but it looks like an ex-North Shore wood car in the background on the curve.
#41 – WS: W/B train of woodies approaching Racine Ave. Note the ramp (at left) leading down to Van Buren St trackage — places the time frame as 1953 (no earlier than June or July?). View looks east. FH: A slightly unusual consist, as the “shorties” were often segregated and run together. But here we have two “shorties” followed by what I believe is a Jewett westbound at Racine on a local. EM: CAE 52 (Stephenson, 1902) leads a three-car westbound train between Racine and Halsted. I suspect that the track at far left is under construction for the east end of the infamous “stop light express,” to allow the destruction of the tracks in the foreground for the construction of the Congress Express, which can be seen at the right. Looking east. These tracks will soon be far less used because of the loss of the CAE, and all CTA trains except the Garfield Pk. AK: Looking east from Racine, track in center is Throop shop lead.
#42 – EM: CAE 48 (Stephenson, 1902) with CAE 18 (Niles, 1902) in the background, and other cars sit in the yard at Wheaton. By this time, the blue wooden cars were downright ugly.
#43 – EM: CAE 454 (St. Louis, 1945), eastbound, crosses 1st Av, Maywood. Will it turn back at Des Plaines AV? It depends on when the picture was taken relative to September, 1953. Notice the newer style crossing gates in contrast to the old gates is picture #9. WS: An E/B St Louis car (460?) in Maywood — believe it is s/o First Ave (note CGW xing in background). View looks north. Dan Hagstrom adds, ” #43 is a picture I never thought I’d ever get to see. This is looking north at the First Avenue grade crossing. The Chicago Great Western crossing gates are visible just beyond, and on the left is the Refiner’s Pride gas station that was situated between the Aurora tracks and the Great Western tracks on the west side of First Avenue.”
#44 – EM: CAE 422 and 434 (both Cincinnati, 1927) at Wheaton station. Notice all the fresh red paint. Also notice the jumper cables hanging from the not recently painted fence. WS: Two trains meet at Wheaton station (note C&NW station at left). View looks east.
#45 – EM: CAE 404 (Pullman 1923) eastbound at Marshfield Jct where the Douglas Pk branch can be seen at the right. Looking west.
The same approximate view as #45, but a year or two later. This picture was most likely taken during the transition period around April 4, 1954, when Douglas Park trains were rerouted over the Lake Street “L” via what we today call the Paulina Connector, part of today’s Pink Line. According to http://www.chicago-l.org: “But by spring 1954, the main line elevated had to be taken out of service. The Garfield Line was running on a nonstop temporary grade-level alignment as far east as Aberdeen Street, but this arrangement would have been less than satisfactory for the Douglas operation. So, on April 4, 1954, the CTA reactivated a section of the Logan Square branch between Marshfield and Lake that had been closed for revenue operations when Logan Square trains were rerouted to downtown via the new Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway (but had been kept for nonrevenue equipment moves). Marshfield Junction was removed in favor of a straight connection from the Douglas to the Paulina Connector (as this nonrevenue leg was often called) and a new connection, Paulina Junction, was built from the Connector to the Lake Street elevated adjacent to the flyer-over and abandoned Lake Street Transfer station where the two crossed. Douglas trains would now access the Loop via this connection over the Paulina Connector and Lake Street Route.”
#46 – EM: CAE 456 (St. Louis, 1945) at the end of an evening rush-hour train bound for downtown Chicago on the Halsted curves, a popular place for photographers. Looking NE.
#47 – WS: Is this a trick or what? Appears to be same pix as #40 (car #34 leading the same train W/B at Kedzie). (Duplicate photo, sorry! -Ed.)
#48 – EM: CAE 451 (St. Louis, 1945) leads a three-car westbound consist just west of the Des Plaines Av. interchange with the CTA. It is about to pass through the two cemeteries before crossing the Des Plaines river and turning NW towards 1st Av. Maywood. (Editor’s note: off to the left, but not visible in this picture, would have been a large gas tank that was a Forest Park landmark for many years. This is the location of the Eisenhower expressway today.)
Today marks six months since we started this blog. To date, we have made 59 posts and have received over 54,000 page views from nearly 16,000 people.
Your response has been most gratifying, but none more so than the following comment:
I would just like to say that your willingness to post these various pix (and challenging your readers to ID the locations/info) is Great! Aside from being interesting and informative, it forces those of us who (like to think we know what we are talking about) to “put up or shut up!” It is interesting that even when two or more people ID the same pic that one of them notices some otherwise undetectable (or unnoticed) detail that others missed — THAT is often the real treasure! (Example being the discussion as to the vacant land west of the PRR trks at 79th was in preparation of construction of the Skyway. The later-revealed documentation (from Dennis McClendan?) was priceless.)
Thank you again.
Bill Shapotkin
We will do our best to keep up the good work. This website is for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. We have many great things planned for the future.
-The Editor
PS- If you have not done so already, please check out the offerings in our Online Store. Every penny of income goes towards funding the original research that our readers enjoy.
Besides helping to support these efforts by buying our E-books and CDs, you can also make a donation via the same page. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Following up on our earlier post about the Railroad Record Club (April 12), we found some interesting documents inside one of the many steam and traction LPs they issued in the 1950s and 60s. These date to late 1965.
The RRC Newsletter shows that record #32 came out late in 1965, and the five “special” pressings were also out by then. There is a mention that the company that pressed their records (RCA) was getting out of the business soon, but this may simply mean that they no longer wanted to make 10″ records, which were going out of favor.
The remaining four RRC tiles #33-36 most likely came out in 1966, since the club had been putting out four records per year. Those were also issued on 10″ LPs, but after that, the Railroad Record Club only put out reissues on 12″ vinyl.
There is also a description of a pressing error, where RCA apparently mismatched some of the two Nickel Plate Road LPs. RRC sold these to the public but unfortunately did not mark them as such.
Some recordings that were never issued are mentioned, including one of the Queensboro Bridge trolley, which last ran on April 7, 1957. Perhaps there is still rare traction audio out there waiting to be rediscovered.
Here is a video of that trolley*:
In response to your requests for more RRC titles on CD, we have added eight more steam titles to our Online Store. Nearly all of these have two RRC titles together on single compact disc.
To give you an idea of the relative value of cost, fifty years ago versus today, we made a comparison using one of those online inflation calculators. Each 10″ LP cost $4.00 in 1965, which is the equivalent of $30.30 now.
By comparison, we are offering two RRC discs in most cases for just $14.95.
The special South Shore Line 3-disc box set cost $12.49 when first issued, which would be nearly $100 in today’s money. We have the same title on two discs for only $19.95.
In addition to the Railroad Record Club recordings, we have also transferred a few other public domain recordings to compact disc.
We are still looking for a copy of RRC #23, which features Pennsylvania traction. There are vintage 1950s recordings of both the Johnstown Traction and the Altoona & Logan Valley streetcars on that disc. If you have a copy of this rare title that you would be willing to share with us, we would be glad to transfer it to compact disc and send you back your original along with a copy.
Thanks.
-Ye Olde Editor
*The narration is by prolific author Vincent F. Seyfried (1918-2012). He does get one thing wrong, however. The trolleys used on the Queensboro Bridge operation in its last days were built in 1930, not 1948.
Car 601, an “Electromobile” built by Osgood-Bradley, survived until 2009. It had been allowed to deteriorate for many years in storage, but at least parts from this car will help restore others.
The RRC Newsletter from late 1965.
The RRC Order Form from late 1965. LPs cost $4.00, which is the equivalent of $30.30 today. The $12.49 cost of the 3-disc South Shore Line recording would equate to $94.62 now.
RRC sold more than just records.
There was a pressing error in 1965, and some of the two Nickel Plate LPs got mixed up. RRC sold these errors to the public and left it up to the purchaser to take note of the mistake.
Several new RRC steam titles are now available in our Online Store.
To celebrate the memory of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban, we are sharing many great color photos with you. This is the second of two parts. You can find our previous post here.
We’ve already received some great responses for the first batch, and we thank you for them. We’ll publish those once the contest has ended.
Tell us where these pictures were taken, if you can. In some cases it may not be possible to determine an exact location.
But besides that, give us some other interesting information about what you see. As usual, by clicking on each photo with your mouse, you can bring up a larger version in your browser.
Please refer to each image using the number provided in the caption. The contest deadline is midnight Chicago time on July 22nd.
You can send us your submissions as comments to this post, or by e-mail to:
thetrolleydodger@gmail.com
The contest winner will be the one who gives us the best overall submission. The prize will be a copy of our Railroad Record Club #35 and 36 compact disc, which includes vintage audio from both the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin and the CTA Garfield Park “L”. You will find this and much more in our Online Store.
Thanks.
-Ye Olde Editor
PS- I’ve known railfan historian and author Bill Shapotkin for many years and consider him a good friend. Today is his first day of retirement from his regular job. We wish him well in this new phase of life, and are sure he will keep very busy indeed. I hope you will join us in congratulating him.
Bill tells us that by some coincidence, one of the photos in our last post shows the house he grew up in. That’s what my Dad used to call “Kismet.”
This month marks 58 years since the fabled Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban suspended passenger service in the middle of the day, stranding thousands of commuters who had taken it downtown that morning. Although there were efforts to save the railroad, or parts of it, after that fateful July 3rd in 1957, it all came to naught.
This important railroad, which ran downtown over the Chicago Transit Authority‘s Garfield Park “L” until September 1953, was abandoned in 1961 and has been turned into the Illinois Prairie Path. Several of its railcars were saved, and by far the best collection of them can be found at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, where they are operated frequently.
To celebrate the memory of the CA&E, we are sharing many great color photos with you. This is the first of two parts, and another batch will be posted on the 15th.
Although I can figure out several of the locations myself, I thought it would be best to get our readers involved, for I know there are many of you who enjoy figuring these things out. Therefore, we will have another mystery photo contest.
Tell us where these pictures were taken, if you can. In some cases it may not be possible to determine an exact location.
But besides that, give us some other interesting information about what you see. As usual, by clicking on each photo with your mouse, you can bring up a larger version in your browser.
Please refer to each image using the number provided in the caption. The contest deadline is midnight Chicago time on July 20th. The rest of the photos will be posted tomorrow (15th).
You can send us your submissions as comments to this post, or by e-mail to:
thetrolleydodger@gmail.com
Thanks.
-Ye Olde Editor
PS- The contest winner will be the one who gives us the best overall submission. The prize will be a copy of our Railroad Record Club #35 and 36 compact disc, which includes vintage audio from both the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin and the CTA Garfield Park “L”. You will find this and much more in our Online Store.
